


Sentinel

by meevees



Series: digirim [3]
Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Mecha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 01:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7200656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meevees/pseuds/meevees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How could Hikari protect anyone from the kaiju, when she couldn't even protect herself? [Pacific Rim crossover AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sentinel

Hikari never wanted her brother to become a ranger. She’s happy for him, so happy that he has achieved his lifelong dream, and she couldn’t be prouder of his decision to dedicate his life to protecting others. But the truth was, if she were selfish enough to admit it, she would rather Taichi had stayed right where he was, protecting  _ her _ .

 

It was probably silly, still wanting her brother to hold her and keep her safe through the kaiju attacks, even as they only unfolded on the television in front of her, somewhere on the other side of the world. She certainly wasn’t a child anymore. But it made her feel safer than any anti-kaiju shelter, than all of the jaegers in the world combined.

 

Her brother had always been there to protect her, after all, since the very beginning.

 

* * *

 

 

_ She is fussy that day, almost inconsolable, which is unusual for Hikari. Taichi is at his limit, unsure how to deal with the toddler’s odd behavior without his mother’s guidance, and unable to handle it much longer. He decides some fresh air is what they both need. _

 

_ He doesn’t mean to go very far from their apartment complex, just to walk around a little until  _ _  
_ _ Hikari calms down, because any more than that would cause their mother to worry, and probably scold Taichi. He has Hikari piggyback, and she is getting sleepy, so Taichi actually starts to head home before he runs into some friends who ask him to come play a round of soccer at the park. It’s an invitation Taichi could never turn down. _

 

_ Having calmed down some, Hikari is content to sit in the sandbox while her brother plays. After his friends leave, Taichi even pushes her on the swing for a while before heading home. She laughs the entire time, crying out to go faster, higher, finally cheerful again. _

 

_ They’ve almost arrived back to the apartment complex when the sky suddenly turns dark. Taichi curses, a word he overheard his father use, wondering if it were about to rain and knowing his mother will be furious if they come home soaking wet. _

 

_ But when he looks up, it isn’t clouds that are blocking the sky. _

 

“Hikari!”

 

* * *

 

 

Hikari never imagined that she could be the one protecting people. So when the PPDC shows up at her family’s home, and they’re looking for  _ her _ , they want  _ her _ to be a ranger, it’s all a little hard to believe.

 

But Hikari wanted to be able to help, and if they really believe that she was so important to the program that they’d actively sought her out, she hardly felt like she could say no. She was just much less sure she’s cut out for the job than the corps seemed to be.

 

She expected Taichi to be upset with her decision, to refuse to let her follow through. But although she could see the worry darken his eyes when she told him the news, he did quite the opposite, “I’d rather you be safe at home than out fighting, to be honest. But the way things are going lately, you might not be any safer at home than you are in a jaeger for much longer anyway. At least this way you  _ can _ fight. I’m proud of you, Hikari.”

 

Hikari’s heart swelled. It wasn’t the first time her brother has ever paid her a compliment, but it felt like it.

 

* * *

 

 

_ The kaiju looms ahead of them, trudging slowly but destructively through Hikarigaoka on its two hind legs, despite the leathery wings folded behind it. Taichi is immediately aware of what it is and what it means, even though it’s the first time he’s actually seen a kaiju. Hikari is too young to know, unable to understand the danger that is closing in on them. _

 

_ The emergency sirens begin to wail, and this is what alerts Hikari that something is not right and she begins to cry. The warning seems to have come too late and people are rushing out of their homes and offices if they hadn’t already, racing to make it to an anti-kaiju shelter or at least put as much distance between themselves and the monster as possible. The chaos is immediate and overwhelming and Hikari only cries harder. _

 

_ “Go home?” She asks between hiccuping breaths. _

  
  


_ Taichi feels this is the best idea as well, and he hoists Hikari up higher on his back, trying to keep moving toward their apartment and hopefully their parents. But it’s easier said than done. Going home means going toward the kaiju, and the massive crowd of people all around them is moving in the opposite direction, too concerned with their own safety and that of their family to even notice the two small children by themselves, let alone stop to help them or let them through. Taichi tries to push his way through the crowd anyway, but everyone is panicking and someone shoves him out of the way, knocking him to the ground and sending Hikari tumbling out of his arms. _

 

_ The throng immediately separates them, and Hikari is sobbing now, trying to crawl her way back to Taichi and calling, “brother, brother!” The people either do not notice her or do not care. _

 

“It’s okay, Hikari, you’re safe.”

 

_ Taichi manages to push his way back to Hikari, and scoops her up into his arms without even stopping. He runs into a nearby ally, having realized they will both be crushed if they stay in the crowd, deciding to wait it out until the people are mostly gone. He watches as they rush by, desperately hoping to catch sight of their parents, and Hikari buries her face in his chest. _

 

* * *

 

 

Hikari never thought she would enjoy ranger training as much as she did. She wasn’t the strongest, or the fastest, or the smartest in their class, but she already had a co-pilot assigned to her before she’d even started which gave her a colossal advantage over her fellow trainees, some of whom would graduate as rangers only to never find a suitable partner. 

 

She’d already met Takeru a few times before they were recruited together. Yamato was all but adopted into their family when he and Taichi had become co-pilots, and Takeru had naturally followed. They didn’t know each other that well, all things considered, but she considered him a close friend nonetheless. They were both assured this doesn’t matter anyway, since Yamato and Taichi had almost no shared memories when they’d first started drifting, and Yamato and Taichi’s drift was exactly what they were supposed to be emulating.

 

But Hikari was too modest, and Takeru was too polite to push her to open up to him. They were able to drift successfully, and the connection was good, but not nearly as strong as that shared by their brothers. In the end, it was decided they would both likely be better suited to different partners.

 

She thought her brother might be disappointed, but he told her it was for the best. When she found the right partner it would be worth the wait, he said.

 

* * *

 

 

_ The sirens stop and the people clear out but the city does not fall quiet. Car alarms are going off in every direction, dogs that have been left behind in apartments are barking furiously, and each step the kaiju takes as it draws closer falls like the loudest clap of thunder Taichi and Hikari have ever heard.  _

 

_ Even though the crowd has passed Taichi knows better than to think that makes it safe to go back out into the street. He wants to go home, where he wants his parents to be waiting for him, but he’s not sure that’s a safe choice any longer. He doesn’t know what to do, he wants to curl up and hide and wait for someone to come and help him, but Hikari is still crying against his chest, tears and snot running down her face as she hiccupped and sobbed, and if he didn’t do something then who would protect her? _

 

_ Feeling resolved, Taichi bursts back out into the street. He is hoping to run and find the place where all of the other people are hiding, but instead he finds himself staring down the kaiju, and he is frozen. Hikari finally comprehends the nature of the danger that they are in, and she becomes so frightened that she stops crying altogether, falling silent. _

 

“It’s not going to hurt you, Hikari.”

 

* * *

 

Hikari never expected to be compatible with someone like Miyako. They might have been polar opposites in every possible way; Miyako was forward where Hikari was reserved, impulsive where Hikari was thoughtful. But despite seeming incompatible on the surface, their drift was strong.

 

It was surprisingly easy drifting with Miyako at first, probably because she put herself out there so readily that she had little to hide when drifting. But it was a bit awkward to get used to, partially because their personalities were so different, but also because Miyako could be, well,  _ rude _ whereas Hikari was largely incapable of being impolite even in her most private thoughts. But Miyako rarely refrained from speaking what was on her mind, so at the very least even her less wholesome thoughts weren’t exactly a surprise.

 

Miyako graduated from the academy a year before Hikari, and had been waiting to be assigned a co-pilot ever since then, so she was incredibly eager to get started. But her eagerness was not immediately rewarded much to her irritation (and Hikari’s embarrassment, when Miyako proceeded to complain about it very loudly to anyone who would listen). They spent weeks running practice drifts together before even being allowed in their jaeger, and then once they were it was weeks more of training and test runs rather than any actual combat. All of it was going well, and their confidence and anticipation were both high.

 

Until eventually, finally, Sonic Harpy was called on for deployment.

 

* * *

 

_ The kaiju picks up speed upon seeing them, as if the prospect of crushing two small children has given it a burst of enthusiasm. Taichi is still frozen in place, too terrified to move a muscle although it means certain death if he does not. He clutches Hikari closer to himself, hiding her face and, unsure what else to do, closes his own eyes in preparation for the inevitable. _

 

_ But it never comes. There’s a crashing sound and the kaiju let’s out a horrible roar; it actually sounds pained so Taichi tentatively opens his eyes. _

 

_ A jaeger has arrived on the scene at the critical moment, slamming into the kaiju and halting its progress toward them. Taichi cheers, understanding the significance of the jaeger and realizing the heroes have come to save the day. To Hikari one is no less obviously a monster than the other, and the terror of the situation is only doubled. _

 

“Hikari, listen to me, you need to snap out of it!”

 

_ The battle between the kaiju and the jaeger rages. There is massive destruction all around them, and several times Taichi has to be quick to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. _

 

“It’s not real!”

 

_ The kaiju manages to throw the jaeger off of itself, and the machine crashes into the bridge just meters away from them. _

 

“Hikari, please, why won’t you listen to me!?”

 

_ Suddenly someone is shaking Hikari. She is lifted up off of the ground, but Taichi carries on watching the fight as if he hasn’t noticed the change. _

 

_ Somehow Hikari recognizes the woman before her even though they’ve never met. She looks frantic as first, but when their eyes met a gentle smile crosses her face. Hikari feels safe and comfortable with her, despite everything happening around them. _

 

“You’re chasing the r.a.b.i.t.; this is all in your head.”

 

_ Hikari is on her knees before her new companion, fully grown and wearing her drivesuit. Behind them the kaiju and the jaeger are still battling, and Taichi still doesn’t seem to see her anymore. Something it strange. She looks to the woman before her. _

 

_ “Mi...yako?” _

 

_ Miyako looks ecstatic to finally be acknowledged, “Yeah, that’s right! This kaiju can’t hurt you, but there’s a real one out there right now that’s going to hurt a lot of people if we don’t do something, so you’ve got to pull it together, ok?” _

 

_ Hikari returns her gaze to the ground. She doesn’t know what good she could possibly be against kaiju, how she could possibly save other people from it. Here she was facing one now, after all, and she couldn’t even protect herself. “I can’t...I’m powerless…” _

 

_ The smack comes down hard across Hikari’s face, and if this is really all in her head, she certainly still feels the sting of it as if it were real. _

 

_ “Don’t say that!” Miyako yells as if she were angry, but tears are pooling in the corners of her eyes, “People are depending on you! And besides, it’s not true! You made it this far, didn’t you? You’re a ranger. How many people are able to do what you’ve done? Right now you are the only one with the power to stop the kaiju, Hikari!” _

 

_ Hikari still sits in the rubble of the city, showing no obvious reaction to Miyako’s words. But she is undeniably listening. _

 

_ “And if you can’t believe in yourself then believe in me. Because I believe in you. I’m fighting with you, and if you need it I’ll be here to protect you. So don’t worry, okay?” _

 

Hikari stood up. The scene in Hikarigaoka dissolved around them and they were back in Sonic Harpy’s Conn-Pod. Hikari remembered now; it was their first real drop and when she’d seen the kaiju before them, fully felt the reality of it and the similarity to that day from her childhood, she’d panicked. But she wasn’t afraid anymore. She turned to Miyako and smiled.

 

_ “Sonic Harpy, you are back in alignment,”  _ Koushiro, the chief LOCCENT officer, was speaking to them over the communicator,  _ “Are you okay?” _

 

“Mm. We’re both here, Koushiro.” Miyako replied, returning Hikari’s smile.

 

_ “Imperial Dragon is preparing to relieve you now, so just hang on a few minutes more.”  _

 

“No!” Hikari suddenly shouted. She expected Miyako to be surprised by her outburst, but no such emotion came through the drift, only encouragement, “Please give us one more chance. I can do it. We can do it.”

 

Koushiro obviously wasn’t positive about granting her request, because he didn’t answer right away. But ultimately he conceded,  _ “...Alright. but Imperial Dragon will remain on standby if you need them, so don’t overdo it.” _

 

“Right!” Hikari and Miyako agreed in unison, and Hikari added on her own, “Don’t worry.”

 

There was nothing to worry about, after all.

 

Hikari always had been strong enough. And she never would feel powerless again.

**Author's Note:**

> otherwise known as the one in which Miyako is actually Kamina


End file.
